It’s not notably honest to declare Recreation 31 of 82 a must-win beneath any circumstances. However the Islanders might be respiration a sigh of aid after Monday.
Between COVID-19 outbreaks and league-imposed breaks, getting a learn on this version of the Islanders hasn’t been simple. The figuring out issue, as a lot as something, has been the laborious actuality of the mathematics required for them to make a playoff push.
With 28 factors from 30 video games headed into Monday, it’s an uphill climb. A house loss to a Flyers group that had dropped seven straight coming into the night time would have been a intestine punch. As an alternative, the Islanders (12-13-6) dispatched Philadelphia, 4-1, at UBS Area.
This wasn’t the cleanest of wins. The Islanders turned to goaltender Ilya Sorokin to bail them out with 26 saves, however it wasn’t the quantity a lot as the way by which they have been made.
Within the second interval alone, Sorokin made a sprawling cease on a two-on-zero rush, denied two extra odd-man rushes when the Islanders have been on the ability play, then stopped Joel Farabee, who was in on their own, within the waning minutes of the interval.
“I simply work on the puck,” Sorokin mentioned of the two-on-zero cease. “I await when a participant shoots or provides a go. And he made a shot within the center, off the online. And I used to be in a superb place.”
“Actually the story was proper there,” head coach Barry Trotz mentioned. “Ilya Sorokin with a few excellent saves. They rating a pair on that, I feel our bench deflates, and so they didn’t.”
The one puck that went in throughout the 20-minute cacophony of odd-man rushes was one which Travis Konecny bounced off Noah Dobson’s shoulder, catching Sorokin unexpectedly and discovering the again of the online in probably the most weird performs you’ll see in an NHL rink this season.
By means of that mess, the Islanders someway limped into the third interval with a 2-1 lead. Brock Nelson scored the opener, sniping a wrist shot by means of Martin Jones on a drop go from Josh Bailey at 11:44. Lower than three minutes later, Casey Cizikas made it 2-0 by deflecting Robin Salo’s level shot.
“It’s been a very long time coming, to be trustworthy with you,” Cizikas mentioned of his first aim of the yr. “Once I rotated and I noticed [Matt Martin’s] arms within the air, truthfully I believed it hit him and went in.”
Regardless of the mishap slicing the result in one going into the third, the Islanders made it 3-1 at 4:44 of the ultimate interval after Anthony Beauvillier swept in Oliver Wahlstrom’s rebound on a delayed penalty.
The Flyers received an opportunity at an influence play at 11:54 within the third, however have been stymied by an Islanders penalty kill that was an ideal 4-for-4 on the night time. At six-on-five later within the interval, Martin ended the aggressive proceedings with an empty-net aim.
The Islanders may barely have afforded a loss on this one — they're within the midst of a stretch by which there’s little selection however to start out making up factors. They play the Flyers once more in Philadelphia on Tuesday, then they gained’t go away Elmont once more till after the early February All-Star break.
Between from time to time — they’ll go into the break practically on the midway mark, having performed 39 video games — we must always get an concept of whether or not a run on the playoffs is something greater than the empty rhetoric of a misplaced season.
The Islanders are enjoying with an almost wholesome lineup, and no extra video games have been wiped off the schedule (fingers crossed). They’re near .500, and so they’ve received two weeks to find out the place the season goes.
“I’d say [.500 is] step one,” Cizikas mentioned. “Truthfully the standings are robust to take a look at. You'll be able to have a look at them a technique and kinda be upset. You simply take it sport by sport and I feel that’s what we’re doing right here.”
Post a Comment